The New Mexico Cannabis Control Division (CCD) just revoked the license of a cannabis company started by Navajo businessman Dineh Benally and opened in Estancia, New Mexico. Meanwhile, the Navajo Nation recently filed charges against Benally and another man for growing illicit marijuana on tribal lands.
The man who ran twice for Navajo Nation president seems to be having a rough go of it as a weed entrepreneur.
And these are just the latest chapters in a story that involves alleged fake permits, accusations of judicial interference, allegations of forced labor and a slew of other touchy claims that swarm around an illegal growing operation that Benally allegedly ran on tribal lands near Shiprock in 2020.
Tip of The Iceberg
The CCD in December revoked the license of Native American Agricultural Development Company (NAADC), a cannabis production company located south of Estancia after allegedly finding a number of serious violations.
The division started investigating the facility after Searchlight New Mexico asked in September why Benally—who was being investigated by federal authorities for his involvement in an illegal pot growing operation—would be issued a marijuana license by the state.
According to the news organization, the CCD said it was unaware of those investigations. Soon, a compliance officer was sent to the location, where he said he found eight troubling violations, according to state records.
What did the CCD likely learn when it looked into Benally’s history? Well, it probably wasn’t your run-of-the-mill cannabis success story.
A History of Bad Decisions
It all started in 2019, when Benally allegedly began growing unlicensed hemp and unlawfully issuing fake land-use permits to foreign entities to grow hemp on Navajo Nation land. The businessman allegedly claimed to have a license to grow hemp, but that was later revealed to be false.
An investigation into the hemp farms led to allegations that Benally was using underage workers (some reportedly as young as 10) and Chinese immigrants brought in from California and New York. Workers told reporters that the farms were producing black market weed alongside hemp.
The Nation filed for a temporary restraining order the next year to halt all of Benally’s hemp operations.
But Benally allegedly continued operations at the illegal farms. He went into hiding just before federal, state and tribal law enforcement raided the farms in November 2020.
The farms were partially funded by Irving Lin, a Chinese businessman who blamed Benally for the debacle and then set up shop in Oklahoma, where many of the displaced workers reportedly landed. Those farms were also shut down by law enforcement.
In 2021, Benally popped up in South Dakota, where he was trying to open up a cannabis farm on the Pine Ridge Reservation, but members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe kicked him out and banned him from coming back.
Last year, the businessman re-entered the news cycle when Chinese immigrant workers filed a lawsuit against both Benally and Lin for allegedly luring them to New Mexico in 2020 under false pretenses of working at a farm before being forced to process illegal marijuana in a motel in Farmington. Growing marijuana is legal in New Mexico with certain stipulations, but is still illegal on Navajo Nation.
The workers claimed that they were separated from family members and forced to work 14-hour days with insufficient housing and food. They said they were monitored by armed guards.
While somehow managing to avoid being arrested for any of these allegations, Benally got his licenses to produce cannabis in New Mexico from the CCD in 2022 and began working on the NAADC facility.
A Number of Violations
The CCD compliance officer who investigated the facility said NAADC was not using the state’s product tracking software and that there were no chain-of-custody procedures in place. Most worrisome: The company was only licensed to produce 1,000 plants but was secretly producing 40,000. This not only exceeded NAADC’s license limit, it exceeded the maximum 20,000 plant limit allowed to any operation.
According to CCD records, Benally said the chain-of-custody and tracking problems were due to the facility having a lack of internet access. He admitted that he had internet access at his home, though.
As for the excessive plant count, he claimed to have made a verbal request to increase the number of plants grown at the facility but was told that he would have to pay the required fee of $5 for each additional plant. Benally told the CCD that he couldn’t afford the fees.
“Mr. Benally did not explain why he apparently went ahead without the additional permits and planted approximately four (4) times more plants than were allowed under Respondent’s license,” noted the CCD in its final decision.
Navajo Nation Charges
As for these most recent developments, Navajo Nation prosecutors have charged Benally and a farmer named Farley BlueEyes for their alleged roles in the Shiprock operation. David Jordan, an attorney who has represented Benally in the past, is expected to represent him in this case as well, but the attorney told The Paper. that he has not been retained by Benally so far. Authorities say no one has entered a formal appearance on behalf of BlueEyes, and it’s unclear who the individual is.
Meanwhile, Benally still has to make it through the Chinese immigrants’ lawsuit and won’t likely be issued another cannabis license from New Mexico anytime soon. The doors have also been permanently closed at the Pine Ridge Reservation. It seems like Benally has been shut out of the industry for now, and his dreams of becoming a marijuana magnate may be finished.
But is this the end? Have we really heard the last from Benally? If he’s truly guilty of the brazen crimes he’s been accused of, we may not have heard the last of him.